Syracuse's Carousel Center turns 19, and you're invited to the party

Lauren Long / The Post-StandardCarousel. Center mall at 19. My, how you've grown.Hey, 19 ... You’ve really grown up. We’re still not sure what you’re going to be and you’re so full of empty promise, but hey. Let’s just take some time to celebrate where you’ve been and who you are right now.

Hey, 19, your name is Carousel Center, and it’s all about the party. Brought into the world in 1990, The mall does its birthday thing starting Sunday. The expansion? Well, we can talk about that some other time.

A weeklong celebration includes free rides on the signature carousel, which, by the way, also is celebrating: Philadelphia Toboggan Co.’s Carousel No. 18 turns 100 this year.

Sunday is family day, with activities for the kids from 1 to 5 p.m. on the Commons Level.

All week, the fee for gift certificate purchases is waived and customers can register to win a $500 Carousel Center shopping spree. Thursday is the Big Day, with free cake for all beginning at noon.

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New to Mattydale Plaza — or maybe it’s Kmart Plaza to you — is Tian Tian Buffet, an Asian food restaurant. It’s between Cosmo Prof and Gertrude Hawk, in that Zebb’s strip. Owner Ke Wang has run several of these in the Carolinas. Wang says the wide assortment on the buffet will be cooked by separate chefs, with individual talents cooking in the styles of Cantonese, Szechuan, Hunan and the like. The restaurant will open soon.

There are A LOT of former New Jersey residents around here, and/or many people who love one sub-regional Jersey delicacy: Taylor ham, or pork roll. I’ve heard from more than 40 of you by e-mail and phone calls who responded to a reader’s query regarding where it can be purchased in Central New York. One caller had relatives who worked for the company and may have crossed paths with my family in Trenton long ago. Others include:

Edward Alencewicz: "As a frequent business traveler to NJ, I have been bringing it home for my family to enjoy for years. To our surprise, we found that Wegmans on Route 31 in Clay has been carrying Taylor ham now for several months."

Chris Jeffreys: "We used to eat Taylor ham for breakfast frequently and I really missed it, and would buy it down there when we went to see my cousins. A few months ago we stumbled across it in Wegmans in Cicero."

Lynn: "Taylor pork roll fanatics rejoice! Wegmans in DeWitt carries it sliced and in a log. Yes, Ralph, there is a Santa Claus."

Fran: "I recently purchased some at Wegmans on Onondaga Boulevard in Western Lights. It is in the meat case, at the far end, by the bacon."

Bob: "Just found some at the Wegmans on Route 11 in the deli section. Yes, I’m a Jerseyite and loved Taylor ham. We bought it and have been eating it ‘raw’ or fried for a couple of weeks now."

Dick Gilbert, meat manager for Wegmans in DeWitt: "After several requests from customers seeing it in our stores in other markets, I checked into this item a few years ago. I was able to get it in and, after a slow start, it sells surprisingly well."

Jonathan: "Taylor pork roll (or Taylor ham as those of us who love it tend to call it) has been available for over a year at all of the Wegmans supermarkets. Not in the deli section, but in small boxes in the meat section. Put this in CAPITAL LETTERS in your next update!"